THIS SITE HAS MOVED. Inkygirl posts are now part of DebbieOhi.com.
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Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
Time Villains follows sandwich-obsessed Javi Santiago, who has to nail his homework assignment if he wants to pass sixth grade. The assignment seems simple enough: if you could invite any three people to dinner, who would they be? Plus, Javi has his best friend Wiki and little sister Brady to help him. What could go wrong? Turns out, a lot...
Sweaty palms, shaking limbs, and the distinct possibility of puking. Am I describing riding a rollercoaster or having a crush in middle school? These two thrill rides collide in Jake Maia Arlow's MG debut Almost Flying.
The novel follows thirteen-year-old Dalia, who has planned the perfect summer: finally ride a rollercoaster and make a new best friend. But when Dalia realizes she might have more-than-friend feelings for the new girl on her swim team, Rani, things start to get complicated.
From Graci Kim, you should expect the unexpected. A Korean-Kiwi diplomat turned cooking show host turned author, who ran away with the circus in pursuit of a Colombian tightrope walker, Graci is bringing us a novel about Korean witch clans in LA, who conduct ancient rituals and shop at H-Mart.
The Last Fallen Star, Graci's MG debut, follows Riley Oh, the only "saram" (non-magic person) in her family of healing witches. After a forbidden spell turns disastrous, Riley must find "the last fallen star" to save her sister's life.
M.O. Yuksel never imagined she would be an author, but that changed when she was asked to read to her son's preschool class a picture book about a Muslim holiday. Unable to find such a book suited to her son's age group, she decided to write one herself, launching her journey to authorship. After years of writing and rejection, M.O. published In My Mosque, her literary debut.
In My Mosque celebrates the diversity, traditions, and joy we can find in mosques around the world. It serves as a beautiful introduction to Muslims and Islam and reminds us that mosques are welcoming centres for community and love.
One morning, when she was walking her young children to school, Charlotte Offsay picked up a piece of trash and threw it in a nearby garbage can. She had no idea that this simple action would spark a conversation with her children about doing their part to keep the environment clean, which would inspire her literary debut, The Big Beach Cleanup.
The Big Beach Cleanupfollows Cora, a young girl excited to enter a sandcastle competition. When Cora learns that the fun has been cancelled because there is too much trash on the beach, she and her Mama get to work cleaning up. But they soon realize they can't do it alone.
Take Back the Block follows Wes, a funny, stylish sixth-grader who finds himself thrown into a movement to save his community from a powerful developer.
How do you teach children about intolerance? How do you teach them about death? How do you introduce to them a culture with which they may not be familiar? You turn to books like Root Magic, the MG debut of author Eden Royce.
Set in 1963 in South Carolina, Root Magic follows Jezebel Turner and her twin brother, Jay. On their eleventh birthday, their uncle, Doc, says he will teach them rootwork, a family legacy, which opens up a world of magic and the supernatural.
"My daughter said she wasn't going to science camp because 'science was for boys.'"
Shelli R. Johannes had never written a picture book when she heard her daughter's stance on science, but it sparked the idea that she, with co-author and friend Kimberly Derting, would turn into the Loves Science series.
Libby Loves Science: Mix and Measureis the latest instalment in the series and shows young readers that science is for everyone. When Libby's baking goes awry, can science solve the problem?
Christina Li likes to keep herself busy. At just 14, she began querying literary agents and at 15 pitched live to her current agent. Now, an undergraduate at Stanford University, Christina is making her literary debut with Clues to the Universe. The novel follows Rosalind Ling Geraghty, an outspoken aspiring rocket scientist coping with the recent death of her father, and Benjamin Burns, an introverted artist who is convinced that his long-lost dad created his favourite comic books series.
Thanks to Robert Lee Brewer and Brian Klems of Writer's Digest for inviting me to be on their new WritersMarket.com podcast! I talked about how I started writing and illustrating books for young people, what I've learned so far, my middle grade novel, meeting Judy Blume, how much I love illustrating Michael Ian Black's stories for kids, board gaming, musical instruments and much more.
I was nervous but ended up having a lot of fun; both Robert and Brian are such nice guys. I used to work with both Robert and Brian for Writer's Digest (a daily publishing news column as well as articles for the magazine) and I hope to finally meet them in person someday!
Back in May 2013, I posted an interview with Celia Lee, an editor at Cartwheel Books / Scholastic, and Celia invited Inkygirl readers to submit manuscripts for a limited time; apparently Celia received over a thousand submissions (!). A couple of years later, I met Josh Funk at nErDcampMI and found out that he had sold one of his picture book manuscripts to Celia as a result of my Inkygirl post, and it was being illustrated by Michael Slack.
Today, I'm delighted to have Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple visiting Inkygirl. Jane and Heidi are co-authors of YOU NEST HERE WITH ME, a new picture book that recently came out from Boyds Mill Press, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. I've also been a longtime fan of Jane's work, especially her fairy tale retellings.
I asked both Jane and Heidi to answer Three Questions for me, and here are their answers:
Photo of Adrienne: Tanja Tiziana. Steampunk background: http://valerianastock.deviantart.com
I met Adrienne Kress through the Toronto MG/YA Author Group (Torkidlit). She's smart, funny and passionate about her craft, and I've appreciated her advice and encouragement over the years. I interviewed Adrienne about her middle grade novels last year, and I can't wait to buy her new YA steampunk novel, THE FRIDAY SOCIETY (Dial, Dec/2012). More info on her website: AdrienneKress.com.
Summary of the plot from a starred Quill & Quire review of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY: "The steampunk adventure novel, set in Edwardian London, follows the lives of three very different teenage girls, each of whom works for an important man but also maintains a life of her own. The three strangers – Cora (the lab assistant), Nellie (the magician’s assistant), and Michiko (the Japanese fighter’s assistant) – find themselves thrust together as the result of a horrific unsolved murder and quickly discover that, by combining their special skills, they can accomplish more than they ever thought possible."
Above: BookEnds interviews Adrienne about steampunk fiction, writing & THE FRIDAY SOCIETY.
Q. What was your creative process for The Friday Society?
The creative process for THE FRIDAY SOCIETY was very similar to the process for my writing in general.
It starts with thinking. Normally I get a cool basic idea. In this case it was a team of female Steampunk superheroes. Then I start to problem solve: how many should there be? Who are they? How do they meet? What is the basic plot that drives them? What are the supporting characters? Etc. The more I think, the more comes to me. It's all a bit of a logic exercise, "If they are like this, then this means that. If this is their job, that means that they probably live here. . ." and so on.
I really do just think about it for a good while. If the idea sticks with me, if it gives me butterflies still a week later, I take that as a sign that the idea has staying power. That's the key with writing for me. The act of writing is not glamorous. It's hard work. You aren't always inspired to write. In fact many days you feel a bit like a little kid who doesn't want to get up in the morning: "I don't wanna!!" So you need to have a project that you are completely passionate about. That you are willing to work through the rough patches for. At least I do.
Then comes figuring out the voice. This usually begins by jumping into the deep end and just starting writing. For THE FRIDAY SOCIETY it took a bit more effort than usual coming up with the voice. I started out writing it oldy-timey - a bit like the voice I used in my short story in the anthology CORSETS & CLOCKWORK - but it didn't really suit the light irreverent tone I was going for. Eventually the idea of writing the book in a contemporary voice came to me, and it made SO much sense. After all, the key to Steampunk is that it is anachronistic - a story set in the past but with futuristic technology and attitudes. Well why couldn't the actual act of telling the story be anachronistic too?? (if you want to read a post on the subject of anachronisms in Steampunk and why I chose the voice I did, check out my blog here). Once I had the voice, I could really get going on the story.
Photo: Tanja Tiziana
Now back when I was younger when I wrote just for fun, I realised I was the kind of person who enjoyed starting to write and seeing where the story took me. If I planned something out too much I got bored. I would feel, "Well, I already know what happens, what's the point in me writing it?" But I quickly learned that if I didn't do any planning whatsoever I would paint myself into a corner that I just couldn't get out of. So what I tend to do is a combination of both. I come up with a very basic plan, and then I fill in the blanks in the moment as I write. I also tend to plan in phases. So I'll plan the first fifth of the book, and when I'm coming to the end of that, I'll stop and plan the next fifth. Etc. As an example: with the beginning of THE FRIDAY SOCIETY I decided I wanted three chapters of introductions per girl and then I wanted my girls to meet up at a gala where they would come across . . . something mysterious. Seriously, that was it. Not much to go on, but still enough that I knew where I was going.
I should add at this point that I do tend to have a very basic idea of what the novel will be on the whole. This is part of what I think about during the thinking phase. But again it's very basic. In the case of TFS it was, "I want a Steampunk superhero origins story where my three girls defeat someone intent on destroying London for some reason. Also there will be subplots." :)
As I continue to write my book I, of course, come across bumps in the road and face difficult problem solving. This is always tricky to manage but I have learned that if I just stick with it I can get out to the other side. Sometimes it means moving onto something else or just going for a walk to clear my head. Sometimes it means sitting there and figuring it out one word at a time. And it's kind of amazing the direction your brain can take you. The characters of Hayao and Dr. Mantis were meant to be small one offs, but as I wrote them they just took on a life of their own and became integral to the story. This is why I enjoy not planning every little thing as I write, I love being surprised by my own story.
Now my method is simply mine. It certainly does not work for everyone. The most important thing is for a writer to find what works for him/her and be confident in that technique. So many blogs will tell you absolutes. But here's a secret: whatever works for you, works for you. Try different methods, see what sticks and discard that which doesn't. Don't be afraid to fail, and don't second guess when something is working for you.
Q. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Unfortunately my advice in not particularly glamorous nor original. It is: Read and Write. Ta da! To elaborate. . . Read. Read a lot. Read every genre and every medium. Read novels, non-fiction, plays, poetry, graphic novels, picture books etc etc and so forth. Everything you read will inform what you write. It will teach you the writing rules, it will teach you how to break those rules. It will teach you what you like, it will teach you what you aren't a fan of.
And then you have to write. You just have to write. A lot. You never really learn until you do. And you never really improve until you do a lot.
Q. Any upcoming events or current projects you'd like to share?
Thanks to Erin Bellavia for interviewing me for Toasted Cheese, a writing community and literary journal. I had lots of fun answering these questions. :-)
About SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE: After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to—and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with—her crush, Andrew Finkel.
SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE comes out June 26 in Canada and July 3 in the U.S.
Could you please tell me a little bit about your book? What inspired you to write it? What it's about?
The story of what inspired SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE isn’t all that exciting—it began as a title. Normally, I get about halfway through a book before I come up with something to call it, but this title came to me fully formed one morning when I woke up. I was working on other projects at the time, so I tucked it away, but it nagged at me for about a year until I figured I’d better just sit down and write it. The title pretty much dictated what it would be about.
Wow, it began as a title? That's great! Has this happened to you before or since? Do you keep a notebook of title ideas?
Thanks, Debbie! I actually have another really great title that popped into my head one day, but I have yet to write the book, so I’m going to keep that one under wraps for now. That said, it’s usually through writing the book that I come up with a title. I try to come up with something that’s catchy but has a lot of meaning at the same time—stuff with multiple layers/meanings are always good. But I will say that it’s nice when my subconscious does the heavy lifting for me and gives me something great to work with!
How much outlining do you do? What is your typical work process or work day?
I do zero outlining. I usually start with about four or five plot points in my head and just sit down and start writing. I’ve tried to force myself to become an outliner (which would save me a lot of trouble down the road) but my brain just doesn’t work that way. As for my work day? Well, I do have a full-time job to work around, so much of my writing is done in big chunks on the weekend and sometimes in the evenings, if I have time after Tweeting and Facebooking. ;-)
Do you do much revision? What's your revision/editing process?
I’ll be honest: I don’t love editing. For me, the love is in the drafting and discovery of the plot and the characters, so the editing is the really hard work. I edit a lot as I go, so generally my first completed drafts are pretty clean.
BUT, when you don’t outline, editing for content beyond the first draft is really necessary to get everything in order and layer in details. That means several drafts. I do try to put my first drafts away for a bit (and send them off to beta readers) so I can look at them with fresh eyes after some percolate time.
Then I pull them out and start with big picture stuff, much of which will have come from beta readers. Does the story work? Any big inconsistencies or holes? Are the characters’ motivations realistic? That’s usually two or three passes, especially if I’m adding/deleting scenes.
Then I start in a little closer with the detail work—names, events, timelines – does everything line up? After that, I do a final ‘find and replace’ to get rid of my overused words like ‘that’ and ‘just’ and my many physical tics – head shaking, nodding, winking.
Joanne's office
You originally began SMALL MEDIUM as a YA. What was your reaction when your editor suggested it would work well for a younger audience?
The first time she came to me to ask if I would consider rewriting it, (and just to be clear, this wasn’t the editor who ended up buying the book) I was flattered that she loved it so much, but I thought someone else would like it as it was, so I respectfully declined.
The second time she came back and asked, nearly a year later, after we hadn’t sold the book, I figured why not? I really had no idea what I was doing, but she suggested some reading and had faith that I could do it. She was obviously right, and although she didn’t end up being the editor who bought the book, I’m grateful for her vision.
Do you have any advice for writers who aren't sure whether their work-in-progress is MG or YA?
Read a lot of both and get a good ear for the voice. I wasn’t familiar with MG, (other than what I read as a kid) until I started reading it for research, but it made a lot of sense once I got a good really good taste of it. Here’s an excellent list of differences – I particularly like #3 about the focus.
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Read a lot. Write a lot. And prepare to toughen up your skin—this is a tough industry where heartache, rejection and bad news are pretty much guarantees. BUT if you are passionate, willing to put in the time and effort, and can stick it out, the rewards can be amazing!
What books are you reading right now?
My tastes are very eclectic—as much as I love books for kids, I also enjoy grown up escape reads, too! I just finished an ARC of IN A FIX by Linda Grimes – a book for grownups, but filled with lots of laughs and was great fun. As for MG, I recently read THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate and loved it a lot. Up next is the YA, THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer E. Smith – I’ve really been looking forward to reading this one for a while and I’ve been hearing lots of great things about it.
What are you working on now? Anything else you'd like people to know?
I’m working on several different projects: more middle grade and a funny YA that I’m hoping will be a great follow up to SMALL MEDIUM AT LARGE as my readers get a bit older. Nothing I can talk about specifically just yet, but I can tell you, all the stuff I’m working on will make you laugh!
Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at 12:17 PM
